Employees To Owe CCR-1 If Contract Breached

The Crawford County R-1 School Board on July 19 passed a policy addition that will penalize contracted employees who break their contract.

Under Policy GCPB, an employee under contract who is not released from the contract and chooses to break it must compensate the district.

Adding the policy came at the request of district administrators.

The policy says the compensation covers the costs of finding a suitable replacement, training expenses and other disruptions.

If a contracted employee resigns between June 1 and July 30, they owe the district $500.

Breaking the contract between July 1 and July 31 will cost $1,000.

The employee will owe $1,500 if the contract is broken from Aug. 1 until the First Contractual Day and $2,000 for the First Contractual Day and beyond.

“Because the actual damages will be difficult, if not impossible, to ascertain, the board agrees that the following damage amounts are a reasonable estimation of the damages,” the policy reads.

The district may deduct the damage amounts from the employee’s paycheck or other compensation the district owes the employee, “if the employee has agreed to these deductions by contract or in writing or if the district otherwise determines it has the legal authority to do.”

The policy says that if a payroll deduction is not possible or sufficient, the employee must pay the balance within one month of submitting their resignation.

The district can take action against the employee for breach of contract.

As part of the policy change, the district has added an early resignation/retirement incentive.

Certified staff members who notify the district in writing of their resignation/retirement no later than Jan. 31 will be paid $500, provided they continue to work through the end of the school year.